China Charity Federation Raises US$912 Mln in 2010

China Charity Federation, a leading charity organization in the country, raised about 6 billion yuan (about US$912 million) in donations of money and goods in 2010, a statement from the federation said Friday.

The figure marks a 29.3 percent increase from 4.64 billion yuan collected in 2009, according to the federation.

Fan Baojun, President of the China Charity Federation, said philanthropy in China has experienced sound development, generating increasing amounts of donations year by year.

"More enterprises are aware of their responsibilities to engage in charitable causes," said Fan. "Philanthropy will help them not only to build good images but also to improve competitiveness."

The federation is now under cooperation with some entrepreneurs to develop programs dedicated to helping the elderly access proper medical care, he said.

Fan also called on people to educate children on charity.

Founded in 1994, China Charity Federation is a non-profit public welfare institution with 273 member units nationwide.